Renowned puppetry company Erth takes to Canberra’s stage with ARC

Posted on 10 September, 2024

“It’s about moving past grief to hope for life to continue…it’s about the fragility of us and the world around us.”

When writing a stage show for the renowned puppetry company Erth, Alana Valentine was presented with a challenge; she needed to create a piece of work that not only had a beautiful flow, and translated well onto the stage but also captured the essence of a true story.

The playwright, dramatist, librettist, and Director was up for the task. With previous experience working with Bangarra Dance Theatre and writing Barbara and The Camp Dogs, Letters To Lindy, and Parramatta Girls (just to name some of her previous work), the result was ARC – an exquisite and awe-inspiring stage show exploring our collective and individual relationship with nature and loss.

Coming to the Canberra Theatre Centre from Thursday 26 until Saturday 28 September after an extremely successful nationwide tour, while the themes of ARC by Erth might sound adult, the company behind the show is recognised internationally as a creator of brave, unbridled work for children.

According to Alana, the beauty of ARC is it’s a show that the whole family can enjoy and one that goes beyond simple entertainment. It’s a love story –  one dedicated both to the earth and an amazing woman who once inhabited it.

“Scott Wright from Erth has seen some of my work and he said that he wanted to make a show about Sharon Kerr, the Executive Director of Erth, who had died,” says Alana.

“She was Scott’s partner… He was saying ‘Often, when I see endangered animals that we both love I think of her coming back to me through these animals. When I see them, their beauty and their fragility, I think of Sharon’.”

Working closely with Erth to create a narrative poem that Scott could perform on stage to honour his partner, the stage show brings 14 rare and endangered animals to life using intricately constructed puppets.

And while it is a strong theme in the show, ARC is about so much more than connecting the audience with the natural world.

“It’s about this man who’s sitting at home alone and he is thinking about his partner who has died. He keeps conjuring up these little animals and he talks about how he feels about her,”   says Alana.

“It’s a very positive, beautiful spin on grief.”

Offering audience members the chance to interact with rare and exotic animals, from the armored pangolin, to the  endangered Leadbeater’s possum, hammerhead sharks, and even a polar bear, ARC presents intimate, magical encounters that will wow all ages.

But Alana says that ARC is ultimately about appreciating the fragility of life.

“Seeing these species is incredible but I think for older children and adults…we’ve all lost someone at some stage. It’s not a sad show at all,” she explains.

“It’s about the fragility of us, and the fragility of the world around us. The theme of the show is if we look after the animals, they’ll look after us.”

From the magic of the puppetry to the meaning behind the message, one thing is clear – this is a show the whole family will think about long after the curtain closes.

Feature image: Jacquie Manning.